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Rigidizing Fiber Board
This is part two of a three
part tip on rigidizing fiber board. Click here to go to part
one, which tells you about colloidal silica and colloidal alumina.
Prior to rigidizing your fiber board, you should cut it to the
size and shape desired. Since most rigidizers only treat the
external edges of the board, it's essential to complete all cutting
before the rigidizing treatment.
Colloidal silica and colloidal alumina are both used in the same
fashion. You should wear a respirator to protect yourself from
fiber particles and from the rigidizing products. You should
also wear rubber gloves and take caution not to spill the liquid.
Cleanup will be a bit easier if you get a container to hold
the board being rigidized. (Large shallow plastic containers
are fairly inexpensive and easy to find.) Place the board in
the container, then apply your rigidizer over the board.
The rigidizer can be sprayed on, but more often it is applied by
pouring or by brushing the liquid onto the board with a large
paintbrush. Allow approximately half a gallon (two liters) for
a 24" by 36" sheets of fiber board. You want to totally
saturate the board, so you will need to flip it several times to
make certain the liquid soaks in.
Once the board is well soaked, you can pour off the excess liquid back
into the original container. It's re-usable. The next
step is drying the board, which is the subject of
tomorrow's tip.
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Copyright 2005 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
Thanks to various posters on the
Warm Glass bulletin board for information included in this post,
with special thanks to Bert Weiss, Phil Hoppes, and Graham Stone.
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